The present invention relates to wood veneers and more particularly to transparent wear-resistant overlays applied to wood veneers for use in a variety of applications including flooring, furniture, doors, wall panels and the like.
Laminated wood panels with faux veneer are manufactured for use in a variety of applications, including flooring, cabinetry, doors and trim. The faux veneer is typically made by producing a photographic reproduction of wood on paper. The paper is then applied to a substrate. A protective layer is then overlaid on the photographic layer. If desired, the overlay can be made wear-resistant by incorporating abrasion resistant materials in the overlay.
While the faux veneer laminates have been widely successful, some applications require a real wood surface and look. Thus attempts have been made to use the faux veneer technology to produce panels in which a wood veneer is substituted for the photographic paper. These attempts, however, have not met with success for a variety of reasons. The principal reason is that the wood veneer has a moisture content that is higher than that of the photographic paper. As a consequence, moisture in the form of steam is generated during the manufacture of the laminate. The steam creates bubbles and discontinuities in the final product, yielding an unsatisfactory appearance for high quality applications.
A wear-resistant veneer product includes a substrate that has real wood veneer adhesively secured to the substrate. A resin impregnated protective layer is adhered to the veneer under conditions of pressure, temperature, and time that inhibit the generation of sufficient moisture from the veneer and resins to degrade the visual quality of the product.
The product is made by adhesively securing a veneer to a substrate under pressure and optionally at an elevated temperature. The veneer is then conditioned, e.g., sanded, in preparation for receiving an overlay. An overlay, preferably comprising a resin impregnated paper, is then adhesively secured to the veneer under process conditions that inhibit the generation of steam and/or water vapor that would otherwise visually degrade the surface of the veneer.